BLAEU I (Joan and Willem Jansz). - Lot 4

BLAEU I (Joan and Willem Jansz). Novus Atlas, Das ist/ Weltbeschreibung / Mit schönen newen außführlichen Land-Taffeln in Kupffer gestochen/ und an den Tag gegeben Durch Guil. und Johannem Blaeu. Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu, 1647. - In-folio, even parchment overlay, gilt scrolls and corner finials on boards, gilt plate in center, ornate smooth spine, gilt edges, remnants of binding (period binding). Second volume only of Blaeu's famous atlas, this one devoted to France, Spain and other continents. Incomplete copy, including the engraved title and only 47 maps exclusively concerning France. Two maps are missing from this section ("Das herbogthumb Bugun" and "Caroli Magni Reich"), as are all the maps of Spain, Africa, Asia and America. Many pages of text are also missing. Copy in publisher's binding of the period, with all maps and leaves mounted on tabs. This work comes from the library of Francisco Eusebio de Pötting (1627-1678), ambassador of the German Emperor Leopold I to Philip IV and later Charles II of Spain (1664-1674). It bears his handwritten bookplate on the title page, attesting to its acquisition in 1656 in Vienna: "Francisci Eusebii Comtis de Pötting 1656. Emptus in 4 Tomis 150 R. Viennae." The work, then consisting of four volumes, was purchased for 150 Reichsmark. On the front cover are ink-drawn, but largely faded, arms, which may be those of the Count of Pötting; they are accompanied by the date 1656. Binding missing, some soiling, decoration partly faded. Good condition inside. The title printed in the center is stuck.